


Feather's Christmas Balozza

by Justghostingby



Category: Room of Swords (Webcomic)
Genre: Amelia and Gyrus are related but not mother son, Anan's trying his best, Christmas, Don's the owner of the building, F/F, F/M, Gen, Implied Robbéry, M/M, Modern AU, apartment chaos, but I need you to know that, he doesn't come in, odd couple au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:36:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28491774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justghostingby/pseuds/Justghostingby
Summary: In which Anan struggles to make Feather’s first Christmas in their dingy over priced city apartment as perfect as he possibly can and finds he may have bitten off more than he can chew. Fortunately he’s got a whole apartment full of friends here to help him along!For the Odd couple Sitcom au that AnjotheBanjo requested on the discord. here’s your Secret Santa AnjotheBanjo!
Relationships: Amelia/Tori Grieve, Anan Jelani & Feather (Room of Swords), Anan Jelani/Sylvia, Gyrus Axelei/Kodya Karevic, Gyrus Axelei/Tori Grieve, Olimedes/Sylvia (Room of Swords)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Feather's Christmas Balozza

**Author's Note:**

> Have any of you seen the odd couple? No? Think of it as the original Friends, but for your parents.

The snow was what started it, Anan was certain. They didn’t get a lot of snow in there dreary city, at least not the kind that hadn’t turned grey and gritty by the time it hit the ground, mixing with ice to slick the streets dangerously smooth. But today it was different, as if by some Christmas magic the fresh falling snow maintained its purity as it hit the sidewalk, dusting everything from the lampposts to the cars to the apartment windowsills with a pretty frosted white.

“Look out Feather,” Anan cried, pulling up a handful of white powder. Feather looked up and Anan tried to throw a snowball at them, but the snowball exploded in midair instead, small particles floating lazily down and getting caught in their long purple hair. 

“You can’t hit the back side of a barn in summer,” Feather dead-panned with a roll of their eyes. “What made you think you’d be able to hit me with such powdery snow?”

“Yeah I guess it isn’t any good for snowball making,” Anan’s shoulders slumped, before he straightened up. “Hey wait a minute! I could have totally hit you! I’m not that bad a shot!”

“Believe what you have to,” Feather shrugged, spinning into a backwards walk so they could smirk at Anan as they turned the corner. Anan bit back another protest, eyes scanning the snow bank for some less powdery snow just to prove Feather wrong, a fact he was quickly realizing was pointless as all the snow looked exactly the same. So engrossed was he in his task, that he nearly walked straight into Feather, who had stopped dead.

“Wha-” Anan skittered to a halt inches away from head butting Feather’s hand-tied jacket. “Why are we stopping?” He looked up, and stared.

The center plaza was covered head to toe in Christmas lights and decorations. Large garlands hung from lampposts covered in twisting holly and lights. A jolly Santa in a bright red suit stood in a corner, with a glistening golden bell and a full laugh. Three plastic reindeer stood beside him, lit up in lights with a red nose glowing at the head. And the crowning jewel of it all was the Christmas tree. Three stories tall with a star on top, delicate glass ornaments running red, gold, and green and decorated in whimsical polka dots and stripes. Pretty silver ribbons crisscrossed down the tree, and the whole scene was covered in a faint dusting of white as the snow drifted slowly down.

“Beautiful,” Anan whispered, before turning to Feather. “Hey Feather-” he started, then stopped.

Feather’s eyes were wide, multicolored irises peaking out from their bangs as tears slipped down their cheeks and into their rainbow scarf. They seemed far away, as if they didn’t even know Anan was there.

Anan stared, uncertain of what to do. In the almost six months of being Feather’s roommate in their tiny apartment, he’d never seen his friend cry. He reached out a hesitant hand and touched their shoulder. “Feather?” he asked softly.

Feather jolted, nearly jumping into the air, and hastily shrugged off Anan’s hand in favor of rubbing their eyes with their sleeve. “Its nothing,” they said. 

“A good nothing or a bad nothing?” Anan asked, not willing to let his friend off the hook when they’d just broken down over a Christmas tree. Feather snorted.

“A nostalgic nothing,” they shrugged. “It just reminded me of the Christmas parties my dad used to throw on in our house on Christmas Eve back in the old days.” They shook their head, “But it doesn’t matter. Just another corporate holiday he could use as an excuse to show off his perfect family. Nothing special.” There was a bite in their voice, and Anan winced in sympathy. 

He didn’t know much about Feather’s father, Jules Tatum, outside of the superficial facts everyone knew about the owner of Tatum Industries, and 7th most desirable businessman as voted by woman’s magazine (don’t judge him his reading materials, a man’s got to know his competition). But the fact that Feather had been poor and desperate enough to take a complete stranger’s offer to be roommates told Anan more than enough to despise the man. (And send a very angry letter to the editor of Woman’s magazine complaining about not checking their candidates for niceness before ranking them).

Anan glanced at Feather, noting how they seemed to struggle between looking at the tree and looking decidedly away. Maybe if Anan told a stupid story, they’d laugh and forget what was worrying them. But what to tell? 

“Nostalgia’s weird like that,” he gave a fake shrug to buy himself some time. “My granny had this super old wooden pirate ship she used to put on her mantle every Christmas. Mast broken and hanging by a string, left side about to fall off. But I loved that old thing, and would use it to play pirate adventures!” 

Feather looked unimpressed, and Anan hastened to continue. “Then one Christmas I was playing with it while waiting for dinner, and the whole thing exploded! Termites everywhere! They started swarming, and we had to leave the house it was so bad!” Feather mustered up a laugh and Anan grinned. 

“Yeah it was pretty terrible, but we always talked about it every Christmas after, and I even get a little nostalgic every now and then for that termite ship.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, and gave Feather a sideways grin, the one that never failed to get an eyeroll.

Sure enough, Feather rolled their eyes, but their lips twitched up slightly as they did so. Anan felt a wave of relief wash over him. Crisis averted. Feather was back.

“Termites ain’t chill dude,” they said as they pulled their scarf tighter around their neck. “And neither is this cold. Lets go back home.” Anan grinned, falling into step beside Feather as they turned around and feeling on top of the world. He felt so good in fact, that he almost missed the way Feather’s eyes slid back to the Christmas tree, watching it until it was out of sight.

Oh dear, Anan thought. This isn’t gonna be easy to fix, is it?

\-------------

The solution, it seemed, was deceptively simple. If Feather was missing those big old parties of the Christmases of their youth, then all Anan had to do was throw him a similarly fantastic one to help them get over their funk and realize how much better off they were now they were away from that Jerk Tatum. 

There was one problem. A simple google search had revealed a Tatum Christmas party to be on par with what would happen if the Queen of England got it in her head to turn all of London into a Christmas Wonderland. There was no way Anan was going to be able to compete with his meager budget and Christmas supplies. It would take a miracle. 

Which is why he was standing outside Room 104, holding an array of broken Christmas lights, home of apartment eleven’s certified miracle. “Come on Gyrus,” he whispered to himself as he shifted impatiently from foot to foot.

“What are you doing here?” A gruff voice demanded, and Anan winced. He’d forgotten about the other resident of Room 104. “Hey Kodya!” He tried to sound cheerful as he pushed the Christmas lights towards the man’s open arms. “Is Gyrus in there? I need to speak to him, its important.” He stepped to the left, hoping to get around him.

“He’s busy,” Kodya stepped in Anan’s path. Anan glanced over his shoulders to see Gyrus swaddled in a blanket in front of their small tv, which had snoopy dancing across the screen. 

“Don’t look to busy to me,” Anan said as the man in question looked up and waved, causing the blankets around him to ripple. 

Kodya scowled, “Well he is, he’s had a long day working, and needs to _rest,”_ he said the last bit over his shoulder with a glare as Gyrus sent him a sheepish grin. “So whatever it is you need, it’s going to have to wait.” He turned back to Anan, arms crossed. Anan briefly wondered who put Kodya in charge of Gyrus’ schedule. Probably Gyrus, just by the misfortune being the man’s roommate and by being such a walking disaster no one could stand to look at him to long without attempting to interfere. 

Seriously Gyrus was a mess, but somehow all the best looking dudes and girls just couldn’t stop hanging off his arms and hovering around him trying and failing to get his attention. Anan was half convinced his existence was deliberately designed to make Anan look bad by comparison and Feather rich off of the betting pool they’d made for Gyrus’ love life.

But he wasn’t here to contemplate Gyrus’ inexplicable ability to attract others. He had a friend’s Christmas to make. “It’s about Feather,” he said. And both men’s attention snapped to him. “Jerk Tatum is throwing a Christmas party without them, and we need to throw an even better one to cheer them up.”

Jerk Tatum?” Kodya’s brow furrowed. “Are you referring to Jules Tatum?”

“The asshole who overworks him employees on Christmas without a bonus?” Gyrus cried, jumping to his feet as the blankets slid off him. Anan nodded, and Gyrus’ face split into a grin. “Hell yeah we’re in!” He said with a whoop, trying to jump, but his feet entangled with the blankets and brought him crashing to the floor. Kodya jumped to his side with a yelp, but Gyrus’ head popped up with a wide grin, looking for all the world like he hadn’t just face planted with the floor. “What do you need us to do?” he said. 

\-----------

“All right,” Anan pulled out a list from his phone. “The Christmas eve party at Jerk Tatum’s is going to contain three major events: The tour of the decorations, the feast, and the present exchange, which this year is going to be centered around ‘antiques.’” Which was the word the article used, but Anan was pretty sure it was a stand in for “fancy jewels and treasures that are worth more than Anan and Feather’s whole apartment.” 

“That doesn’t sound too hard,” Kodya crossed his arms from his place leaning against the kitchen counter. “It’s just a bunch of lights, food, and old things, how come you need our help?” Anan winced. Yeah, quoting the article definitely understated their predicament. 

“Its a tad more complicated than that,” he said as he rubbed the back of his neck, wondering how to put it into words. “This guy, he goes all out with his decorations, its like he’s trying to buy up the world’s supply of pine trees just to make a Christmas forest! A forest!” Anan spread his arms wide to emphasize its size. Kodya did not look impressed. Anan wasn’t certain if he should be annoyed that Kodya didn’t grasp the gravity of the situation, or pleased he didn't think Feather’s horrible father’s party was special.

“What supplies have you got?” Gyrus intrerupted Anan’s musings from his place on the couch, fiddling with the shoddy Christmas lights Anan had rescued from the bottom of his closet. 

“You’re holding them,” Anan said, with an awkward chuckle. He and Feather didn’t exactly have a lot of money to spare, and Anan had been pleased to find anything at all. Gyrus bit his lip, and Anan felt his stomach sink.

“Its hopeless!” Kodya exclaimed from his corner. “What do you expect us to do? Produce the supplies out of nowhere?” He waved to the sparse apartment the two men shared, and for the first time Anan realized they didn’t have any decorations either, just a small pine branch lying on the counter.

Anan felt despair rising inside him. How was he supposed to cheer Feather up now?

“I wouldn’t say its hopeless,” Gyrus cautioned, placing a finger on his chin in thought. Anan leaned forward eagerly to hear whatever half-baked hope Gyrus had to offer. “I could probably rig these up to blink different colors,” Gyrus began, “and with that disco ball I know Feather has, we could create the illusion that there are more lights than we’ve got, provided it stayed in the small area that is your apartment.”

“That’s brilliant!” Anan cheered, hope returned. Maybe he could do this for Feather after all! “I know where they keep their disco ball! What else have you got?”

“The Christmas tree yard at Lowes trims trees for free,” Kodya cut in. “That means they’ve got a lot of spare pine branches and even whole bottoms of trees they just throw out. If you offered five bucks to the trash guy he’d let you take it.”

Anan blinked at him, noting for the first time the faint sent of pine in the air. Kodya scowled defensively as he shifted in front of the pine branch. “What? It’s a really cheap way to make the house smell nice. You have your traditions I have mine.” 

“We’d need someone with an artists eye to put it all together though,” Gyrus rubbed his chin. “Have you tried asking Oli?”

“I never thought of that,” Anan admitted, wanting to kick himself. This is why he needed Feather, they’d have suggested Oli right from the get go. Not that Anan could have their help planning their own surprise Christmas party. Oli even lived closer to them! It should have been obvious.

“Still jealous because Sylvia liked his chocolate better than yours?” Kodya raised an eyebrow. 

“No!” Anan crossed his arms. “Well yes,” he admitted sheepishly, that little cooking disaster was a moment he’d rather like to scrub from existence, but still... “that has nothing to do with me forgetting this time!” he shook his head. “He’s just really forgettable.” And linked to enough shame and failure that Anan had willfully ignored his very existence to psych himself up for the harrowing quest of making a party for Feather. 

“Sure you did,” Kodya grinned. Anan scowled. If that was how he was going to play it...

“Hey Gyrus,” Anan smiled his sweetest smile. “Why don’t we ask Sylvia and Tori to help? Tori’s had experience guarding rich parties, she’ll know all about what to prepare.” He shot Kodya a knowing smirk as Gyrus’ face lit up.

“That’s a great idea!” Gyrus beamed as Kodya sulked. “We’ll get everyone involved, that way we can pool resources and make the decorations even better!”

“Yeah!” Anan pumped his fist in the air, snide annoyance melting into genuine excitement to match Gyrus’s. “Feather’s going to love it!” Getting everyone involved really was the best possible outcome. There was no way he’d be able to pull it off on his own, but with the whole floor? It might not beat Jerk Tatum, but it would be far fancier than anything Anan had ever experienced. Maybe that would be enough to make Feather’s Christmas.

And to make matters even better... “I suppose Oli will be delegated to the kitchen then?” he asked as casually as he could. With his rival occupied in the back, he’d be free to show off his awesome decorating skills to Sylvia without competition. Besides, Oli was a really, really good cook. Anan could feel his mouth watering at the very thought of his food. It was almost enough to make him forget the overwhelming smell of burning chocolate the memories brought with them.

But Gyrus shook his head. “No, we’ll need him on decorations. Besides,” he shot Kodya a coy look. “Kodya’s really good at cooking!” Kodya’s cheeks heated red as Anan raised an eyebrow. If he didn’t know better, he’d say Gyrus was flirting. But no. That was impossible. Gyrus was so bad at love he’d not noticed two of the hottest people under Sylvia hardcore flirting with him for six months. All the thoughts of his own failed wooing attempts must be messing with his head.

“...if that’s alright with you,” Gyrus hastily added with a glance at Kodya, a note of panic in his voice as he wrung his hands. His eyes trailed down at the floor, completely missing the flattered expression on Kodya’s face. _It can’t be,_ Anan thought as he noted the slight pink in Gyrus’ cheeks.

“Of course it’s alright with me,” Kodya hastened to say as Gyrus continued to look at the ground. Anan watched this new development with a strange sense of deja vu, like he was watching those old soap opera’s he’d watch with Feather in real time.

“If you say so,” Gyrus gave a slightly self-deprecating laugh. “Its just I’ve already been such a burden on you as a housemate lately, and you put up with so much, I’d hate to drag you into something else when you were so against it...” Anan’s mouth fell open.

_Did...did Gyrus think that Kodya didn’t like him?_

“Dude,” Anan shook his head, in solidarity for the great disaster before him. Gyrus’ attention turned to him, innocent confusion on his face, and Anan felt his conscience twist in his gut. “If Kodya’s too busy, you could always ask Tori,” he offered with a wink.

“No!” Kodya yelped, shooting a glare Anan’s way. “I’ve got it! Really,” his voice softened as he looked at Gyrus. “I want to cook for you...and Feather!” he added as Anan gave a cough. 

“Excellent!” Anan said, cheerfully as he grabbed Gyrus’ arm, certain his friend’s confidence at his place in Kodya’s heart was restored. “Then you won’t mind if Gyrus and I go visit Tori and Sylvia to compile decorations! Bye!” Anan slammed the door before Kodya could so much as protest, a half laugh on his lips. Gyrus made a noise of protest, but Anan ignored him, it served Kodya right for bringing up his cooking failures and doubting the success of his plan. 

Besides, Tori would be much easier to persuade to help Feather’s surprise Christmas party if she got Gyrus alone, and with her occupied, what was to stop Anan from hanging out with his favorite girl as they prepared the party for his favorite person? He felt another chuckle rising in his throat. Things were looking up.

\-----------

Things were not looking up, Anan thought as he stared at the vast array of cluttered shelves and mismatched furniture in the second-hand store. “How are we supposed to find anything in this mess?” he exclaimed, looking around for any sign of green and red, but it appeared the Christmas decorations were long sold out, or buried in the clutter. 

Tori raised an eyebrow, and Anan seriously wished Sylvia had actually been in their apartment and not wherever it was she’d gone when Anan and Gyrus had arrived to ask for help. “You were the one who insisted we come to this store in the first place, and now you’re complaining?” 

Anan crossed his arms. “It’s not like we could afford another shop!”

“There you go then,” Tori shrugged as she turned to the rows of vaguely round objects. “So stop whining and help me.” Harsh, Anan winced. He wondered if she was usually this upset when shopping, or if it was because Gyrus had elected to go alone to Lowes to find the pine branches and left her with Anan. 

Looks like no one got what they wanted, Anan allowed himself one more pout of disappointment before he turned to the mismatched shelves, but then again, that was okay. It only mattered if Feather got what they wanted. And Anan was going to make that happen. Somehow.

He pushed through the trinkets to find something that looked both Christmasy and Classy. A surprisingly hard combination to find, he realized as he found a Santa sitting on the toilet. Tossing it back into the pile, he paused over a train car, lifting it up to examine it closer. It was very well put together, even if it was missing both the engine, maybe it could look like a Christmas train?

He glanced over at Tori, who was sorting through baubles with a scowl on her face. “Hey Tori?” he asked. “Does this look Christmasy enough to you?”

Tori frowned at the train. “It might,” she hummed, before reaching to pull a red ribbon off a ugly blue and red babble and tied it around the top of the train. “There.” She placed her hands on her hips. “Now it looks Christmasy.”

“Well what do you know!” Anan cheered as he carefully set the little train down in his basket. “It does look Christmasy!” He gave Tori a grin. “You’re really good at this.”

“Naturally,” Tori preened. “I practically grew up in these shops, and after I got my bodyguard job, I had to get very good at figuring out what passed as fancy. Amelia even used to say...” Tori snapped her jaw shut, giving her head a little shake.

Anan’s ears perked up. He and Tori weren’t the closest of the apartment’s tenants, but he’d hung out enough with her to know who it was she talked about and who she didn’t, and that was a name he’d never heard from her before. He dearly wanted to ask what it meant, but from the way Tori had tensed, he figured it was a sensitive topic. He didn’t want to push Tori when Feather’s party depended on her thrift shopping skills.

“If you’re so good,” he said instead, “why don’t we just see who can find the most ornaments for the tree?”

Tori’s eyes lit up. “You’ll regret that,” she cautioned, lips pulling into a smug smile. “I’ll destroy you.” Anan gave a weak chuckle in return, already regretting his choice. But hey, it cheered Tori up and meant shopping for Feather’s party would go a bit faster, so it was worth it.

\-----------

“How did you even find all this?” Anan cried as he stared at the mountain of Christmas ornaments and decorations in Tori’s cart. 

Tori smirked. “It is easy if you just know where to look.” She glanced at Anan’s own meager basket. “I take it I won the bet?”

“Sure looks that way,” Anan shook his head, eyes still focused on the array of supplies Tori had found. “Is that a boa?” he pointed at the feathery red monstrosity half way up the pile. “What do we need that for?”

“For the tree of course,” Tori pulled it out, sending the ornaments on the top sliding dangerously forward. “I figured we could use it in place of a ribbon, to wrap around it.” 

“Brilliant!” Anan grabbed it from her hands, spinning it around in the air as he relished in the fluffy softness. “What do you think?” he asked Tori as he paused his dance, having successfully wrapped the boa around his torso and arms as he held them out in the vague shape of a Christmas tree. “Look long enough to cover our Christmas tree?”

“We’ve got to see if Gyrus can construct it first,” Tori pointed out. “But I doubt it will be your height.” 

“I hope its not to much bigger,” Anan laughed. “Or else it won’t fit inside.” He tugged the boa, only to find it stuck. He tugged harder, but found it began to tie around his legs and toppled forward.

“Careful!” Tori caught him, deft hands placing him back on his feet before he could blink, and tugging the rest of the boa off his legs with one deft pull. “We haven’t paid for that yet!”

“Right, right,” Anan nodded, looking up as he tried orient himself to the new direction he was facing, and froze.

There, across the isles was a very familiar head of beautiful pink hair, accompanied by the human equivalent of a teddy bear. Sylvia and Oli.

“What are they doing here? Together!” Anan exclaimed. Tori whipped her head around to see, but Anan dragged her back down below the wrack of clothing before Sylvia could turn at the noise.

“What are you doing?” Tori hissed. Anan held a hand up to his lips to silence her.

“It’s Sylvia!” he whined, gesturing threw the clothing. “Alone! With Oli!”

“What?!” Tori cried, peaking over the edge of the clothing rack. “She told me she was going to hang out with Feather!”

“Do you think they’re secretly dating?” Anan wrung his hands mournfully. This was his worst fear, Oli’s chocolates had been to much for her to resist, while Anan himself hadn’t even been worth being letting down gently.

“They better not be,” Tori growled with a fury that caused Anan to look up in surprise. He knew she got upset when he tried to flirt with Sylvia, was it possible she gave Oli the same distain? As much as it pained Anan to say it, Oli was a perfect sweetheart, no reason for her to object so strongly. For one wild moment, he considered she might be a secret love rival, before remembering she was into Gyrus. 

Just a friend thing then. Huh. He scratched his chin, wondering if Feather would ever be that protective of him if he started dating. 

“Wait a minute,” Tori shook her head. “Why are we hiding?” Anan blinked. He didn’t actually know. His brain has just reacted.

“So we don’t interrupt their date?” he offered half heartedly. Tori raised an eyebrow and gave him a look Anan would never tell her she picked up from Kodya. “Unless...we do want to interrupt their date?” he offered.

“We do have the perfect excuse,” Tori smirked her cart, laden high with trinkets. 

“We do,” Anan felt his lips pull into a matching smirk. Then a lightbulb went off in his brain. “Wait a minute!” he protested, “all those times you interrupted me and Slyie, those were _intentional?”_

“Watch and learn,” Tori flipped her hair, pulling herself to her feet. She raised a hand to wave, “Hey-” she broke it off, diving back down beside Anan before he could even blink.

“What is it?” Anan demanded as Tori shushed him.

With one finger, Tori pointed to the left side of the clothing isle. Anan carefully peaked around the clothing rack and promptly choked on air.

There, leaning beside the foggy windows, was Feather. Heart hammering in his chest, Anan took in Feather’s casual pose, lazy expression, and how they were perfectly positioned to see anyone who came in or out of the store.

He pulled back to shoot Tori a helpless look. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“Perhaps they will not notice if we are careful?” Tori suggested hopefully, but Anan shook his head.

“They may look completely out of it, but even they’ll notice if we walk right in front of them,” he said, as he ran a frustrated hand through his dreadlocks. He glanced back over at Sylvia and Oli, who were standing to Feather’s right, completely out of his view. “Unless...”

“Unless what?” Tori pressed. Anan gave her a crooked grin.

“Unless we get some extra help!” He pointed to Sylvia and Oli.

\----------

“Hey Sylvie! Oli!” Anan threw his arms around both of them, pulling them into a lose hug. “What are my two favorite people doing here?” He maneuvered Oli’s bulk so it was between him and Feather’s line of sight.

“Nothing!” Oli yelped, practically jumping into the air. Anan raised an eyebrow. Oli seemed jumpier than usual today. Probably because he was on a secret date, he told himself morosely. 

Sylvia smiled at Anan, and Anan felt his heart float into the skies. “Just doing some last minute Christmas shopping,” she signed to him, a black turtleneck still on its hanger slung over her shoulders. 

“Got quite the water theme for Christmas,” Anan raised an eyebrow at the three different water guns Oli was holding. Oli promptly tried to hide them behind his back. Anan felt a twinge of disappointment. He wished he’d thought of something so clever. He shook his head. It wasn’t Anan’s business what Oli intended to get his friends for Christmas. He was here for a purpose. 

“Hey, could you guys do me a quick solid for a few minutes?” He smiled as brightly as he could while Tori pushed the cart towards the checkout. “See Feather over there?” he pointed to his friend as both Oli and Sylvia turned to look. “I need you to keep them occupied for the next fifteen minutes, so they don’t look up and see me and Tori right going out? And don’t tell them I was here. Got that?” He gave them both his most convincing grin.

Sylvia and Oli exchanged glances. “Sure Anan,” Oli shrugged. “We can do that.”

“It will be a piece of cake!” Sylvia signed. Anan beamed.

\-------------

Everything was perfect, if Anan did say so himself. The christmas lights were strung along the ceiling, flashing off the disco ball to soak the whole room in red and green. The decorations he and Tori had found were tastefully placed and organized by Nephthys, who’d been happy to help after she’d gotten of her shift at the hospital. When she’d finished Anan could scarcely believe they were the same odds and ends he and Tori had discovered in the second hand store.

The best part was the tree though. Anan didn’t know what witchcraft Gyrus had employed to make all the pieces stick together, but by some miracle it actually looked like a real tree, albeit a slightly lopsided one. The baubles covered it from head to toe, with the boa artfully constructed to hold it all in place. Really, Gyrus had out done himself. 

And this was only room one! Kodya had kept all the food in his and Gyrus’ apartment, because it would take up to much space to move, and Tori had graciously handed her and Sylvia’s apartment off to be the display case room, with the “Christmas Train” at the center of it all. 

Yep, Anan thought with a nod of his head, they could give Jerk Tatum a run for his money with a party like this. Just goes to show, as his Granny always said, “Love’s better than money any day.” Feather was going to be so happy.

Where was Feather anyways? Anan shot a worried look at the door. He’d gotten everyone here to greet them, besides Oli and Sylvia, who were apparently still missing, together. Had they gotten held up?

As if on cue, the door creaked open, revealing Feather’s tired face, uncharacteristic dark clothing, and purple hair hidden under a black bandana. Finally! Anan thought as Oli and Sylvia emerged behind him, with matching bandanas.

“Merry Christmas!” Anan, Tori, Kodya, Gyrus and Nephthys cried as loud as they could. Anan kept his eyes on Feather, eager to see their reaction. 

“Ambush!” Feather shrieked, rainbow eyes flashing as they fired the water gun in their hands directly at the guests. Pandamonium broke out. Gyrus jumped in front of the tree, and Kodya jumped in front of Gyrus. Nephthys dove left to cover the mantle and the candles she’d taken ages constructing, as Tori stood steady as stone, trying to shield everyone. 

“No!” Anan screamed as Oli and Sylvia both shot their own water guns, diving bodily between the three and the decorations, “Not my hard work!” Feather’s water gun exploded in his face, while the other two hit his chest and arms. “Stop Feather!” Anan sputtered.

Feather lowered the gun slowly at Anan’s words. “Anan?” they asked, caution lacing their tone, they looked up, seemingly noticing for the first time the others behind Anan were their friends, not enemies. 

“Who else?” Anan rubbed the water from his eyes. “Why the hell did you spray me?”

“It’s nothing,” Feather said as Oli and Sylvia hid their weapons behind their backs. “I just mistook you for someone else.” Kodya raised an eyebrow and Nephthys let out a little giggle. 

“We noticed,” Tori grumbled, and Gyrus peaked out from behind Kodya to nod in agreement. Anan decided it was time to move this along before an argument broke out.

“Speaking of noticing,” he spread his arms, “notice anything different about our house today?”

Feather blinked, taking in the lopsided tree, the twinkling lights, the candles, and their best attempt at a holly wreath. Beside them, Sylvia and Oli gasped. 

“It’s like Christmas came to your apartment!” Sylvia cried.

“These decorations are really tasteful,” Oli added with an awed smile. Nephthys blushed.

But Anan ignored them all, attention focused solely on Feather as their rainbow eyes swirled red and green, reflecting the Christmas lights. “Feather?” he prompted, only to catch sight of a single tear slipping down their cheek. “Feather!” he cried, darting closer to his best friend, but Feather brought up an arm to brush it away. “I’m fine,” they said gruffly. “Just something in my eye.”

Anan stood helpless, looking down at his friend. He hadn’t meant to make them cry. Had he messed this up?

Feather peaked back up at him through their purple bangs, and Anan saw a smile on their lips, not a grin or a smirk, but a big, beaming smile. “I love it,” they said. “It’s amazing Anan. Thank you.”

“Aww shucks,” Anan rubbed the back of his neck, feeling as if he were floating. “What are best friends for?”

Feather pulled the black bag from their shoulders and shoved it into Anan’s arms. “Here,” they said, voice still clogged. “I got you something too. Sorry I couldn’t wrap it.” 

Anan looked down at the large bag, carefully undoing the zipper to see the tip of a wooden mast. _It couldn't be._

He pulled the rest of the bag away with wild abandon, and sure enough, there was a great wooden pirate ship, complete with real rope for rigging and a carved name on the side: _Caroline._

“It’s grandma’s ship,” he whispered. But no. His grandma’s ship had been old and cheap, worn from years of childish playing. This ship was sleek and new, carved mahogany forming a beautiful deep brown for the base while a softer, paler wood set the trimmings. “How?” He whispered, looking up to see Feather watching him with a smile.

“I don’t name my sources,” Feather gave a shrug. “But you said you missed it at Christmas, so I got you a new one.”

“I...” Anan opened his mouth but found there were no words he could fit. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Really?” Feather raised an eyebrow as they gestured to the whole apartment. “You completely redid our apartment as a surprise, and you’re the one who runs out of words?”

“I just, thank you buddy,” Anan pulled Feather into a hug, ship crammed awkwardly between them. And even at the uncomfortable press of wood, Anan could swear he felt Feather briefly relax.

“Awwww,” the voices of the others brought Anan and Feather back to reality, and they hastily pulled away. 

Anan beamed down at his new ship. “You know,” he said, “I think I have the perfect place for this.”

“Where?” Feather rolled their eyes, “this place is pretty packed.”

“Oh this is only room one!” Anan said with a grin. “Come with me to the antique room, I think I know exactly where we’ll display this bad boy.” So saying, he led Feather out into the hall to show them the rest of their Christmas party surprise.

\------------

Christmas morning saw their room still completely covered in decorations, but neither Feather nor Anan nor any of their friends seemed to mind, even if they all had to eat break fast in Kodya and Gyrus’ apartment because theirs Feather’s tree and Anan’s boat blocked the way into both Anan and Tori’s kitchens. As they sat squashed around Gyrus and Kodya’s little table, Anan couldn’t help but feel like he was a child again at grandma’s, eating with all his family and no elbow room to spare. And if Kodya’s little TV happened to play news that Jerk Tatum’s famous Christmas eve party had been robbed of its famous antique ship by three mysterious people in black bandana’s, well, that only made the day better.

**Author's Note:**

> Anan (at the Christmas party): So what took you so long to get home anyways?  
> Feather: (war flashbacks to busting through Jerk Tatum's window and holding the guest hostage)   
> Feather: ...  
> Feather: Christmas Shopping  
> Anan: With water guns?  
> Feather (flashbacks to shooting Jerk Tatum in the face with the water gun before Sylvia grabs them and pulls them out the window while Oli screams and shoots)  
> Feather: ...  
> Feather: Yup


End file.
